Wells Still Well On Dirt at Legion
6/23/14-Texas Roadhouse North East Mini Stock Tour presented by Twisted Tea
WENTWORTH, NH — An action filled day began early for Texas Roadhouse North East Mini Stock Tour teams and competitors. NEMST competitors filtered into Legion Speedway and had a look at the brown clay surface, a surface many of them had never seen before let alone compete on it. 16 of the best mini stock drivers across New England took to the clay in their asphalt machines.
The paddock area was vibrant after the practice session with drivers making slight adjustments to have their vehicles a little better in the heats. In the first heat Rookie of the Year sensation Justin Larsen and Toby Wells battled hard with Wells gaining the edge and taking home the win in the first heat that had 0 cautions. In the second heat Mitch Bombard broke out to the early lead but his hood flew up entering turn 3 on lap 1. Bombard continued to lead the event into lap 4 when the caution flew for the spinning car of Tim Martin. Chad Baxter, Desmond Skillings, and Louis Maher all led the heat race with Maher losing control in turn 4 of the last lap handing the win to Baxter.
The invert drawn for feature lineup was 7 rows. This put Roger Ducharme and Nik Coates lining up on the front row. As the feature rolled out the lineup was set and the distance of 35 laps was posted. Coates punched to the early lead and Bombard battling for 2nd. Point Leaders Toby Wells and Emerson Cayer were stuck deep in the field trying to find a lane around other vehicles. Mike Viens and Justin Larsen made early forward progress and Larsen drove into the lead. Larsen led until the 14th circuit when his car lost all electrical power and slowed in turn 1 erasing his ¼ track lead. As the caution flew Wells inherited the lead from Larsen as he was pushed into the pits.
Larsen’s crew was able to fix his faulty switch and the car rocketed out of the pit area as the field received the one-to-go signal from starter Jordan Harnish. Larsen was about 8 car lengths back from the field as they received the green flag for the final 19 laps. Wells broke out to a huge lead as fellow front runners sliced and diced the field looking to pass vehicles and then cut the gap. Cayer began to fall slightly out of the top 5 and Larsen continued his march forward. On lap 27 the caution flew for a spin in turn 4 and the field was reset once again. Larsen once again showed prowess as he powered into the 3rd position in time for the caution to fly one final time.
The field set out for a 6 lap sprint to the finish with Larsen lining up directly behind Wells. Larsen stalked Wells into the corner as Wells ran a low tight line and Larsen ran an aggressive sliding line through the corners gaining on Wells every lap. In the end time ran out for Larsen’s impressive recovery and Wells held on for his 4th win of 2014.
The North East Mini Stock Tour will be back in action July 19 at Star Speedway in Epping, NH for the 2nd round of the Northern Triple Crown Series that began on the NHMS Road Course back in April. For more NEMST info please visit www.northeastministocktour.com or Like us on Facebook!
Sunoco Race Fuels Winners Challenge: Toby Wells
RH2 Fast Lap of the Race: Justin Larsen
Twisted Tea Brew Of The Race: Nick Anderson
Texas Roadhouse Hard Charger: Toby Wells
Thrity Racewear Move of the Race: Justin Larsen
North East Mini Stock Tour – Feature
Finish Car No Driver Hometown
1 2NH Toby Wells Dublin, NH
2 18ME Justin Larsen Peru, ME
3 21 Chad Baxter Pascoag, RI
4 67 Timothy Martin White River Jct, VT
5 85` Michael Viens Seekonk, MA
6 88NH Emerson Cayer Contoocook, NH
7 24 Joe Baxter Pascoag, RI
8 10CT Mitchell Bombard Willimantic, CT
9 21MA Darren Jacobs Springfield, MA
10 55 Nicholas Anderson Oxford, MA
11 98 Nic Skillings Warner, NH
12 18NH Jacob Rheaume Rochester, NH
13 4 Nik Coates Turner, ME
14 34 Roger Ducharme Foster, RI
15 69 Louis Maher North Brookfield, MA
16 90 Desmond Skillings Antrim, NH
Sources: Bob Guptill/NEMST PR